Spanish artist Salvador Marco, renowned not only for his sculptural achievements but also for his distinctive silent style in photography, has been cultivating his cross-media aesthetic creations in Sanyi, Miaoli, Taiwan, for 16 years since his first residency in 2009. Sixteen large-format works will be exhibited at 1839 Contemporary Gallery starting March 1st. These works capture landscapes in their purest form, seeking abstraction within scenery, and exploring painterly perspectives through decontextualization. Viewers are invited to discover the often-overlooked elements—the spaces between objects, the slow breathing of landscapes, and the textural qualities of light on forms. The opening reception and artist talk with book signing will be held on Saturday afternoon, March 8th. This event offers not only an intimate dialogue with artist Salvador Marco and a detailed appreciation of each photographic work but also participation in a book signing featuring selected photographic collections. Each photograph is created using Marco’s Phase One medium format camera, employing a slow and precise shooting process. Every decision, from composition to exposure, is meticulously considered with craftsman-like precision, resulting in subtle interplay of depth and detail. The artworks are mounted entirely on aluminum, providing not only a flawless finish but also ensuring long-term durability.
The Silence Revealed: The Contemplative Gaze of Salvador Marco
Curatorial text｜Luisa Sanmiguel｜Master Degree in Art History
I can feel the silence in these snow-covered landscapes—
a solitude that starkly contrasts with the hectic routine of city life.
Here, I can immerse myself in my thoughts and reflect on my own existence.
I imagine what it would be like to live in a place like this, where time seems to stand still, or perhaps simply flows more slowly.
Maybe it is I who, in this environment, attains a state of calm and complete harmony with myself.
In a world saturated with images, Salvador Marco’s work reminds us that true vision emerges in stillness. His photographs do not seek to impose a narrative; instead, they invite the viewer to discover what lies beyond the obvious—the space between things, the slow breath of the landscape, the materiality of light on form. Photographing landscapes is an act of patience, of waiting, of finding balance between what is seen and what is felt.
Following the philosophy of Per Bak Jensen (Denmark, 1949), Marco does not document the world literally but explores it with an attentive and serene gaze. His images place us in territories where time seems to have stopped, where reality is laid bare in its purest state. Each photograph is an invitation to pause, to see deeply, to feel the weight of the moment.
Nature is the central protagonist of his vision—landscapes devoid of human presence, where wind, light, and matter engage in a silent dialogue. Light, essential in his work, is not merely an aesthetic resource but a living entity, an echo of what once was and what still remains. In these stripped-down territories, Marco suggests that reality is not given to us in full but rather glimpsed in fragments.
In his aerial photographs, the landscape transforms into an abstract vision of reality. His search for the zen quality in photography is reflected in the use of sinuous lines, ethereal forms, and blurred horizons, evoking the painterly expressiveness of artists such as Rothko, Newman, and Diebenkorn. In his Shapes of the Earth series, consisting of five aerial landscapes—two captured in Spain and three in Hokkaido, Japan—Marco explores abstraction in the landscape, stripping it of context until revealing its purest essence. Similarly, Beyond the Threshold places us before the vast and the indecipherable, a territory where photography approaches the pictorial and the meditative.
Michael Kenna once wrote: “Nature is infinite in its subtlety and patience. It invites us to look, to listen, to feel, to be.” This thought resonates in Marco’s work. In his images, there is no urgency—only contemplation. As Kenna also notes, “Time flows differently in the landscape, like a barely perceptible whisper.” Marco captures that whisper in the undulating snow of Hokkaido, in the textures of the earth seen from the sky, in spaces where immensity and simplicity coexist. His photographs are not just visual records but meditations on impermanence and the beauty of the ephemeral.
“At first glance, a photograph can inform us. At second glance, it can reach us.” —Minor White
Looking at his photographs is an exercise in contemplation—not about deciphering but about listening. In his visual world, emptiness is not absence but possibility. As Kenna says, “Often, what is not seen is what truly draws us in.” And in Marco’s work, the invisible, the suggested, the barely implied, speaks to us with a clarity that only silence can reveal.
About Artist｜Salvador Marco (1979)
Born in Xàtiva, Valencia, Spain, Salvador Marco holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts ( Contemporary Sculpture) from the “Universitat Politècnica de València”. After honing his skills in sculpture, he expanded his artistic vision into photography. In 2011, he moved to Taiwan, a country he deeply loves and where he feels energized and creatively inspired. Since then, he has lived and worked there, drawing from its landscapes to explore themes of emptiness, solitude, and the interplay between nature and abstraction.
Marco’s photography was first exhibited at the 2018 Taiwan Photo Art Fair with East Gallery, Taipei. In 2019, his solo exhibition at the Taichung Modern Art Gallery marked the first major presentation where he combined sculpture and landscape photography, creating an intriguing aesthetic dialogue. His presence in Taiwan’s art scene grew, leading to a solo exhibition at GOOGLE Taipei / HTC Taipei in 2020. In 2022, Marco participated in Art Taipei with East Gallery, where his large-format photography, displayed alongside his sculptural work, caught the attention of collectors. The same year, he presented a solo exhibition at the Chimei Museum in Tainan, titled Spain at the Chimei, showcasing his photographic works in one of Taiwan’s most prestigious museums. His work Queen of Bardenas is now part of the collection of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. Additionally, in Art Solo 2022, his exhibition Meditated Stones with East Gallery further explored the intersection between stone and image. In 2023, Marco made his independent debut at Taiwan Photo, establishing his own Salvador Marco Art Gallery stand for the first time at an international photography fair. His latest solo exhibition, Emptiness at the Banqiao Tech & Art Center (July 19 – September 22, 2024), continues his exploration of landscapes as meditative spaces. His largest known lightbox work to date, Stones Are Waiting, measures 3 meters in length, embodying his ongoing fascination with the timeless presence of stone in the landscape. Through his lens, Marco captures fleeting yet profound moments, elevating the ordinary into meditative reflections on time and space.
The Silence Revealed: The Contemplative Gaze of Salvador Marco
Date｜2025.03.01 – 2025.04.13 11:00-19:00
Opening & Artist Talks｜2025.03.08 (六) 14:30-17:00
Venue｜1839 Contemporary Gallery (specializing in photographic art gallery). What’s 1839? It mean the invention of photography in 1839)
Address: B1, No. 120, Yanji Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
